1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to apparatus for improving the efficiency of heat engines, in particular to mechanisms that couple at least two enclosures, such as engine cylinders, to eliminate the work required to effect a change in the volume and pressure of compressible substances contained therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/129,783, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes the discovery that work done in the cyclic, and repeatable, compression of a substance (such as a gas) is relevant to the efficiency of the process involving such compression. This relevance prompted the realization that eliminating the work done in compressing the gas would result in an increase in the overall efficiency at which such a process could be performed.
Ser. No. 11/129,783 teaches that compression/decompression work in an engine can be eliminated, for example, by employing the compression of another substance to counter the work necessary to compress the working gas in the engine. This disclosure teaches a particular implementation of that concept. As explained in further detail below, U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,622, No. 5,077,976 and No. 4,966,109 teach various crank systems with variable-length connecting rods that may be used advantageously to implement the present invention. Therefore, these patents are also hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.